Category: Uncategorised (Page 1 of 3)

It’s Our Time: The AFN Education Toolkit, by Assembly of First Nations – https://education.afn.ca/afntoolkit/ 

Assembly of First Nations has created free, downloadable learning modules about Indigenous histories and effects of colonization. The modules include user guides, lesson plans, images, and perspectives from multiple Nations. 

Traditional Stories and Creation Stories, collected by the Museum of History – https://www.historymuseum.ca/history-hall/traditional-and-creation-stories/ 

The Canadian Museum of History has collaborated with Knowledge Keepers and Elders to record and preserve traditional and creation stories from nations all across Turtle Island. This project helps teachers bring in authentic voices and representations of Indigenous knowledge and helps prevent pan-Indigenization.  

Teaching Resource Center by Indigenous Education National Center for Collaboration – https://www.nccie.ca/teaching-resource-centre/ 

This Indigenous Education National Center for Collaboration has compiled lesson plans, videos, templates, and educator guides to help support Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators bring Indigenous knowledge from a variety of Nations into any subject for any grade. The websites education space also offers videos, recordings, and posters about topics such as Land, Language, and Governance. Because the website has a large depth of resources, they also feature navigation guides and support to identify and implement appropriate resources. 

At the beginning of the year, OEE students reflect on the skills they have and the skills they want to develop. These skills can be anything, from show puppetry to archery, as long as you believe developing the skill will either directly contribute to your educational practices or you think learning the skill will influence your educational philosophy. Once you identify 1+ skills you would like to develop, whether you have a background in the skill or not, you add it to the co-created syllabus, predict the weight of the skill for your final grade, and give a “due date”.

Many students become worried about the weight prediction because they do not know how much time and effort the skill will take to develop, or how much they will actually be interested in the skill. Do not worry about this too much! Throughout the term, you can adjust how much the skill should be worth in either direction. Also remember, we learn as much, if not more, from our failures, and the reflection about the skill is more important than the skill itself.

Consider the following questions when you reflect:

• Why did you think the skill would be important to learn? Now that you have tried (and possibly succeeded), is it more or less applicable than you thought?
• How would you be able to integrate this into a group setting? What supports (financial, spatial, more adults etc.) would you need to made this a group learning experience? How many people can you teach it to at once, safely, while ensuring each participant has a meaningful and fun learning experience (not necessarily successful skill development)?
• What made the learning successful or unsuccessful? What would you change if you could “restart” the learning process? What tips would you give someone else who wants to pick up the skill?

Here are some example skills that our cohort explored, with initials so that if you knew us you know who to ask!

Here is a spreadsheet of courses/certifications that OEE students before us completed. This spreadsheet is up to date as of September 2023, so I encourage you to use it as a starting point – courses change prices and locations depending on popularity, trainer availability, and facilities!

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*Under Construction*

A few days before your GOC, email out a variety of resources to help participants prepare! These might be videos, curriculum documents, activity guides, theories, or journal articles. Here is a list of the theories and resources that we explored! 

• Zabe’s phD on crafting: this changed the way I look at my own crafting, and if you can invite her to present about it, we highly recommend to! She discusses social importance of crafting, and the ethical importance of considering why you craft, how you get materials, where you learn from, what you make, and what happens to your creation when you’re done using it 

Each week focuses on a different skill or experience. Though these get “determined” at the beginning of the year, don’t be afraid to change as you learn more about the interests and abilties of your colleagues! While going through the process, we’d like to leave a few tips: 

• “Double Instruct”: teach as though the participants are students and teach about why you are instructing the way you are 
• Summarize key information 
• In your lesson plan explain how you will do a “discussion”. Questions at the front of the room can be awkward and reinforce a front of class power dynamics. Try think-pair-share, concentric circles, mini-debates etc. 
• Consider how someone who is absent can demonstrate they have explored the content

Every week, the organizing group must provide a meal for the class that considers everyone’s dietary needs. They may create one meal that meets all the needs or provide alternatives (ex. A chicken veggie soup and an all-veggie soup). In our year, we had multiple vegetarians, a vegan, gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance, and allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish, apricots, peas, and sesame. Here are some ideas from our year! 

• Vegan chili and garlic bread 
• Quinoa salad 
• Charcuterie with many dip choices and variations of chips and crackers 

When purchasing your food, consider the social and environmental impacts. Is your food locally available and in season? Who are you buying from – local farmer, local grocer, or grocery chain? How did you choose the meal to make – cultural relevance, ingredient inspiration, attempted new skill, opportunity for community building?  

When introducing your food be sure to explicitly outline your considerations. Then, before inviting class participants to take food, acknowledge the source and build community as a class through song, prayer, or game! 

*Under Construction*

Being a part of a professional network gives access to emerging research, support systems, a wealth of living knowledge, and really fun experiences!

Canada

British Columbia

Environmental Educators Provincial Specialist Association – https://eepsa.org/ 

Alberta

The Global, Environmental & Outdoor Education Council – https://www.geoec.org/

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

The Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario – https://www.coeo.org/

COEO runs two conferences per year, and they are both incredible learning opportunities! Be sure to email and ask about group student discounts.

Quebec

Nova Scotia

New Brunswick

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland and Labrador

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